Magnetic disk device

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, there is provided a magnetic disk device including a magnetic disk, a storage unit, and a control unit. The magnetic disk includes a recording region. The storage unit is configured to store a value according to number of accesses to each of a plurality of regions obtained by dividing of the recording region of the magnetic disk in association with each of the plurality of regions. The control unit is configured to count a value according to the number of accesses to each of a plurality of regions in a count step unit that is a value determined according to an elapsed time from occurrence of a specific situation and is a value counted per unit access, and to update the value stored in the storage unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromProvisional Application No. 61/906,232, filed on Nov. 19, 2013; theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate generally to a magnetic disk device.

BACKGROUND

In a magnetic disk device, in an access time from when an access requestto data is generated to when reading/writing of the data is started,mechanical wait times such as a seek time and a rotation wait timeexist. The mechanical wait time varies depending on a physical addressin the magnetic disk device. Therefore, to improve access performance ofthe magnetic disk device, it is necessary to appropriately reallocatedata in consideration of the access frequency to the magnetic disk.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a magnetic diskdevice according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a recording controlunit in the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an access counter table in theembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a weight table in the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a coefficient table in the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating reallocation of data in the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating reallocation of data in the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an accumulation value of counting ofthe access counter when a coefficient=1.5 in the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an accumulation value of counting ofthe access counter when a coefficient=0.5 in the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the magnetic diskdevice according to the embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating determination of a weight of theaccess counter in the embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a change of the weight of the accesscounter in the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, according to one embodiment, there is provided a magneticdisk device including a magnetic disk, a storage unit, and a controlunit. The magnetic disk includes a recording region. The storage unit isconfigured to store a value according to number of accesses to each of aplurality of regions obtained by dividing of the recording region of themagnetic disk in association with each of the plurality of regions. Thecontrol unit is configured to count a value according to the number ofaccesses to each of a plurality of regions in a count step unit that isa value determined according to an elapsed time from occurrence of aspecific situation and is a value counted per unit access, and to updatethe value stored in the storage unit.

Exemplary embodiments of a magnetic disk device will be explained belowin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The presentinvention is not limited to the following embodiments.

Embodiment

A magnetic disk device 1 according to an embodiment will be describedusing FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of themagnetic disk device 1.

The magnetic disk device 1, for example, records information on amagnetic disk 11 through a magnetic head 22, and reads out a signal fromthe magnetic disk 11 through the magnetic head 22. To be specific, themagnetic disk device 1 includes the magnetic disk 11, a spindle motor12, the magnetic head 22, a head support unit 15, a voice coil motor(VCM) 16, a head drive unit 24, a user logical circuit 31, a buffermemory 29, and a recording control unit 40.

The magnetic disk 11 is rotated by the spindle motor 12 around arotation axis at a predetermined rotation speed. Rotation of the spindlemotor 12 is driven by the user logical circuit 31.

The magnetic head 22 reads/writes data from/on the magnetic disk 11 by arecording head 22 a and a reproducing head 22 b included therein.Further, the magnetic head 22 is moved along a radial direction (trackwidth direction) of the magnetic disk 11 by the VCM 16 positioning at atip of the head support unit (actuator arm) 15 and driven by the userlogical circuit 31. When rotation of the magnetic disk 11 is beingstopped, or the like, the magnetic head 22 is retracted on a ramp (notillustrated) as illustrated by the broken line.

The head drive unit 24 amplifies and outputs a signal read out by themagnetic head 22 from the magnetic disk 11, and supplies the signal tothe user logical circuit 31. Further, the head drive unit 24 amplifies asignal for writing data on the magnetic disk 11 supplied from the userlogical circuit 31, and supplies the signal to the magnetic head 22.

The recording control unit 40 controls transmission/reception of datato/from a host 100, controls the buffer memory 29, performs processingof correcting an error of recorded data, and the like. The buffer memory29 is used as a cache of data transmitted/received to/from the host 100.Further, the buffer memory 29 is used for temporarily storing data readout from the magnetic disk 11, data to be written on the magnetic disk11, control firmware read out from the magnetic disk 11, and the like.

The user logical circuit 31 applies code modulation to data suppliedfrom the recording control unit 40 and to be written on the magneticdisk 11, and supplies the data to the head drive unit 24. Further, theuser logical circuit 31 applies code demodulation to a signal read outfrom the magnetic disk 11 and supplied from the head drive unit 24, andoutputs a signal to the recording control unit 40 as digital data.

A non-volatile memory 28 (for example, a flash read only memory (flashROM)) and an arithmetic processing unit 25 are connected to the userlogical circuit 31. The recording control unit 40 performs overallcontrol of the magnetic disk device 1 according to the firmware storedin the non-volatile memory 28 and the magnetic disk 11 in advance. Thefirmware includes initial firmware and control firmware used for anormal operation. The initial firmware initially executed at startup is,for example, stored in the non-volatile memory 28. The control firmwareused for a normal operation is recorded on the magnetic disk 11, and isread out from the magnetic disk 11 and stored in the buffer memory 29 bycontrol according to the initial firmware.

In the magnetic disk device 1, a mechanical wait time such as a seektime and a rotation wait time exists in an access time from when anaccess request to data occurs to when reading/writing of the data isstarted. The mechanical wait time is a time to operate the head supportunit 15 and the magnetic head 22 by the VCM 16 and to performpositioning of the magnetic head 22 with respect to the magnetic disk11, and vary depending on a physical address of the recording region ofthe magnetic disk device 1. Therefore, the magnetic disk device 1divides the recording region of the magnetic disk 11 into a plurality ofregions (a plurality regions each having logical addresses), counts avalue according to the access frequency to the magnetic disk 11 for eachregion by an access counter 41 (see FIG. 2), and stores an accesscounter table (see FIG. 3) corresponding to the count value. It isdesired, in the magnetic disk device 1, to appropriately perform changeof association between a logical address and a physical address, thatis, to perform data reallocation, based on the access counter table,thereby to improve the performance of the magnetic disk device 1.

Here, consider a case in which the data reallocation is simply executedon the magnetic disk 11 based on the access frequency (the number ofaccesses) to the data. In this case, the data reallocation is performedsuch that data having a higher access frequency (a larger number ofaccesses) is allocated in a region having a shorter access time (fasteraccess).

However, among data accessed under a specific situation (for example, atstartup), there are some data having a high priority, which are alwaysaccessed under the specific situation although not accessed insituations other than the specific situation. For example, reading outof system data (for example, an operating system (OS)) is sometimesrequested from the host 100 to the magnetic disk device 1 at the startup(power ON) of the magnetic disk device 1. Since the system data is notread out at an ordinary operation of the magnetic disk device 1 afterread out at the startup of the magnetic disk device 1, the accessfrequency is likely to be lower than other data in terms of theoperation time of the magnetic disk device 1 as a whole.

That is, when focusing on the specific situation, the data the accessfrequency of which is low in terms of the operation time of the magneticdisk device 1 as a whole and which has a high priority is not easilypreferentially reallocated. As a result, at occurrence of the specificsituation (for example, at the system startup), a problem that theaccess time becomes longer, or the like occurs.

Therefore, the present embodiment proposes to improve the performance ofthe magnetic disk device 1 at the specific situation by varying countstep unit of the access counter 41 (that is, a value counted up by theaccess counter 41 per unit access) in consideration of the specificsituation (for example, the system startup).

To be specific, the recording control unit 40 includes, as illustratedin FIG. 2, the access counter 41, a timer 42, an elapsed timedetermination unit 43, a duration time determination unit 44, adetermination unit 45, an update processing unit 46, and a reallocationprocessing unit 47. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration ofthe recording control unit 40.

The access counter 41 counts a value according to the access frequencyfor each of a plurality of regions RG0 to RG17 obtained by dividing ofthe storing region of the magnetic disk 11. At this time, the accesscounter 41 counts the value according to the access frequency in thecount step unit determined by the determination unit 45. That is, therecording control unit 40 varies the count step unit of the accesscounter 41 according to the count step unit determined by thedetermination unit 45, and counts the value according to the accessfrequency in the varied count step unit. The access counter 41 suppliesthe count value to the update processing unit 46.

The access counter table corresponding to the count value of the accesscounter 41 has a data structure as illustrated in FIG. 3, for example.FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the access counter table. In the accesscounter table, as illustrated in FIG. 3, information that identifies theregions (for example, a region number, a logical address of a head ofthe region, and the like), and an accumulation value of the count valuesof the access counter (i.e., a value obtained by accumulating the valuescounted by the access counter) are associated with each other regardingthe plurality of regions RG0 to RG17 in the magnetic disk 11. Each ofthe regions RG0 to RG17 is within a range of logical addresses (LBA:Logical Block Addresses), and includes one or more logical addresses. Itbecomes possible to know the accumulation value of the count values ofthe access counter 41 with respect to each of the regions RG0 to RG17 byreferring to the access counter table. Note that the access countertable may be stored in a management region for recording managementinformation in the magnetic disk 11, or may be stored in thenon-volatile memory 28 or in the buffer memory 29.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the access counter 41 includes a counter 41 aand a multiplier 41 b. The counter 41 a counts the number of accessesabout each of the regions RG0 to RG17 of the magnetic disk 11. Thenumber of accesses includes the number of reading and the number ofwriting of data. For example, assume a case in which a read command or awrite command with respect to the logical address that belongs to theregion RG0 is received from the host 100. When the recording controlunit 40 completes the processing of the command, the counter 41 a countsup the number of accesses about the region RG0 to which the logicaladdress corresponding to the command belongs.

The multiplier 41 b receives a determined weight from the determinationunit 45. The multiplier 41 b multiplies the weight determined by thedetermination unit 45 to the count value of the counter 41 a. Themultiplier 41 b supplies the multiplication result to the updateprocessing unit 46 as the count value of the access counter 41.

The timer 42 counts an elapsed time from occurrence of a specificsituation about the magnetic disk 11. The timer 42 continues counting ofthe elapsed time until the specific situation is completed, and stopsthe counting of the elapsed time when the specific situation iscompleted. When next the specific situation occurs, the timer 42 outputsthe time counted so far to the duration time determination unit 44 as aduration time from the occurrence to the completion of the specificsituation. The duration time from the occurrence to the completion ofthe specific situation is, for example, a duration time from theoccurrence timing to a completion timing of a previous specificsituation. The timer 42 then resets the counted time, and startscounting of a new elapsed time.

For example, the timer 42 counts the elapsed time from the startup ofthe magnetic disk 11. For example, when the magnetic disk device 1recognizes power ON from the host 100, the timer 42 outputs the timecounted so far to the duration time determination unit 44 as a startupduration time. The startup duration time is, for example, a durationtime from a previous power ON timing to a power OFF timing. The timer 42resets the counted time, and start counting of a new elapsed time. Afterthe magnetic disk device 1 is powered OFF, the timer 42 stops thecounting of time, and starts counting of an elapsed time again from anext power ON timing.

The elapsed time determination unit 43 refers to the timer 42 at apredetermined timing (for example, a fixed period), and recognizes theelapsed time from the occurrence of the specific situation. The elapsedtime determination unit 43 determines which time region from among aplurality of time regions (see FIG. 4) the current elapsed time belongsto. The plurality of time regions is divided for a predetermined timefrom 0 [s], and includes, for example, “0 to 10” [s], “10 to 20” [s],and “20 or over” [s]. For example, when the current elapsed time is 5[s], the elapsed time determination unit 43 determines that the currentelapsed time belongs to the time region “0 to 10” [s]. Further, forexample, when the current elapsed time is 15 [s],the elapsed timedetermination unit 43 determines that the current elapsed time belongsto the time region “10 to 20” [s]. The elapsed time determination unit43 supplies a determination result to the determination unit 45.

The duration time determination unit 44 acquires the duration time fromthe occurrence to the completion of the specific situation from thetimer 42. The duration time determination unit 44 determines whichsections from among a plurality of sections (FIG. 5) the previousduration time belongs to. The plurality of sections are divided atpredetermined intervals, and includes, for example, “24 hours or less”,“24 to 48 hours”, “48 hours to one week”, and “one week or more”. Forexample, when the previous duration time is 12 hours, the duration timedetermination unit 44 determines the previous duration time belongs tothe section “24 hours or less”. For example, when the previous durationtime is 30 hours, the duration time determination unit 44 determinesthat the previous duration time belongs to the section “24 to 48 hours”.The duration time determination unit 44 supplies a determination resultto the determination unit 45.

The determination unit 45 receives the determination result about thecurrent elapsed time from the elapsed time determination unit 43, andreceives the determination result about the previous duration time fromthe duration time determination unit 44. The determination unit 45determines the count step unit of the access counter 41 according to thedetermination result about the previous duration time and thedetermination result about the current elapsed time. That is, thedetermination unit 45 determines the count step unit of the accesscounter 41 according to the duration time from the occurrence to thecompletion of the specific situation and the elapsed time from theoccurrence of the specific situation. For example, the determinationunit 45 includes a weight provisional determination unit 45 a and aweight adjustment unit 45 b.

The weight provisional determination unit 45 a receives a determinationresult about the current elapsed time. The weight provisionaldetermination unit 45 a refers to a weight table (see FIG. 4), andprovisionally determines a weight to be multiplied by the multiplier 41b, which is corresponding to the current elapsed time, according to thedetermination result about the current elapsed time. That is, the weightprovisional determination unit 45 a provisionally determines a weight tobe multiplied by the multiplier 41 b according to the elapsed time fromthe occurrence of the specific situation. The weight provisionaldetermination unit 45 a supplies the provisionally-determined weight tothe weight adjustment unit 45 b.

The weight table has a data structure as illustrated in FIG. 4, forexample. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the data structure of theweight table. In the weight table, the time regions and the weights areassociated with each other about the plurality of time regions of theelapsed time from the occurrence of the specific situation. Theplurality of time regions is the same as the plurality of time regionsused by the elapsed time determination unit 43 for determination. Theweight with respect to each time region can be identified by referringto the weight table. Note that the weight table may be stored in themanagement region of the magnetic disk 11, or may be stored in thenon-volatile memory 28 or in the buffer memory 29.

As indicated above, an access having a short elapsed time from theoccurrence of the specific situation may have a higher priority than anaccess having a long elapsed time when considering the specificsituation (for example, the system startup). The weight table needs tobe determined in consideration of the point.

The weight table is determined such that the count step unit of theaccess counter 41 becomes CU1 when the elapsed time from the occurrenceof the specific situation is a first time, and the count step unit ofthe access counter 41 becomes CU2 when the elapsed time from theoccurrence of the specific situation is a second time. For example, theweight table is determined such that the weight to be multiplied by themultiplier becomes a first weight when the elapsed time from theoccurrence of the specific situation is the first time, and the weightto be multiplied by the multiplier becomes a second weight when theelapsed time from the occurrence of the specific situation is the secondtime. The second time is longer than the first time. The second weightis smaller than the first weight. That is, the weight table isdetermined such that the weight can be larger when the elapsed time fromthe occurrence of the specific situation (for example, a time from thepower ON) is shorter than when longer.

For example, the weight provisional determination unit 45 a illustratedin FIG. 2 provisionally determines the weight to be “100” when thecurrent elapsed time belongs to the time region “0 to 10”, the weight tobe “10” when the current elapsed time belongs to the time region “10 to20”, and the weight to be “1” when the current elapsed time belongs tothe time region “20 or over”.

The weight adjustment unit 45 b receives the provisionally-determinedweight from the weight provisional determination unit 45 a. Further, theweight adjustment unit 45 b determines a coefficient corresponding tothe previous duration time by referring to a coefficient table (see FIG.5) according to a determination result about the previous duration timereceived from the duration time determination unit 44. The weightadjustment unit 45 b adjusts the provisionally-determined weight usingthe determined coefficient. For example, the weight adjustment unit 45 bcan obtain an adjusted weight by multiplying the coefficient to theprovisionally-determined weight. At this time, the weight adjustmentunit 45 b can fixedly employ one as the adjusted weight when themultiplication result is smaller than one. That is, the weightadjustment unit 45 b adjusts the provisionally-determined weightaccording to the duration time from the occurrence to the completion ofthe specific situation. The weight adjustment unit 45 b determines theadjusted weight as the weight to be multiplied by the multiplier 41 b,and supplies the weight to the multiplier 41 b.

The coefficient table has a data structure as illustrated in FIG. 5, forexample. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the data structure of thecoefficient table. In the coefficient table, the sections and thecoefficients are associated with each other about the plurality ofsections of the duration time from the occurrence to the completion ofthe specific situation. The plurality of sections is the same as theplurality of sections used by the duration time determination unit 44for determination. The coefficient with respect to each section can beidentified by referring to the coefficient table. Note that thecoefficient table may be stored in the management region of the magneticdisk 11, or may be stored in the non-volatile memory 28 or in the buffermemory 29.

When the duration time from the occurrence to the completion of thespecific situation is short, it is highly necessary to preferentiallyhandle data accessed when the elapsed time from the occurrence of thespecific situation is short. On contrary, when the duration time fromthe occurrence to the completion of the specific situation is long, itis relatively less necessary to preferentially handle the data accessedwhen the elapsed time from the occurrence of the specific situation isshort than the case in which the duration time from the occurrence tothe completion of the specific situation is long. It is necessary todetermine the coefficient in the coefficient table in consideration ofthe point.

The coefficient table is determined such that the count step unit of theaccess counter 41 becomes CU3 when the duration time from the occurrenceto the completion of the specific situation is a first duration time,and the count step unit of the access counter 41 becomes CU4 when theduration time from the occurrence to the completion of the specificsituation is a second duration time. Note that the count step units CU3and CU4 may be the same as the above-described count step unit CU1 orCU2, or may be different. The second duration time has a longer timeinterval than the first duration time. CU4 is a smaller value than CU3.That is, the coefficient table is determined such that the coefficientcan be smaller when the duration time from the occurrence to thecompletion of the specific situation (for example, the startup durationtime) is longer than the case in which the duration time is short.

For example, the weight adjustment unit 45 b illustrated in FIG. 2determines the coefficient to be “1.5” if the previous duration timebelongs to the section “24 hours or less”, the coefficient to be “1.0”if the previous duration time belongs to the section “24 to 48 hours”,the coefficient to be “0.5” if the previous duration time belongs to thesection “48 hours to one week”, and the coefficient to be “−1” if theprevious duration time belongs to the section “one week or more”.

Note that the coefficient corresponding to the section “one week ormore” is not limited to “−1”, and may be any coefficient, for example,may be “0” as long as the adjusted weight can be fixedly one by theweight adjustment unit 45 b.

With this operation, the value of the weight is adjusted by thecoefficient. Accordingly, when the startup duration time of the deviceis short, a data access count weight immediately after the startup isincreased. Therefore, data immediately after the startup can be easilypreferentially handled when the data on the magnetic disk 11 isreallocated. Further, when the startup duration time of the device islong, the data access count weight immediately after the startup isdecreased. Therefore, data having a high access frequency can be easilypreferentially handled.

The update processing unit 46 receives the count values of the accesscounter 41 in a form in association with the regions RG0 to RG17. Theupdate processing unit 46 identifies the region (the range of thelogical addresses) corresponding to the count value of the accesscounter 41, and accesses the access counter table. The update processingunit 46 adds the count value of the access counter 41 to theaccumulation value corresponding to the above-identified region (therange of logical addresses) in the access counter table. The updateprocessing unit 46 overwrites and updates the accumulation valuecorresponding to the identified region (the range of the logicaladdresses) with an addition result.

Note that, when the access counter table is stored in the managementregion of the magnetic disk 11, the update processing may be performedby the update processing unit 46 such that the access counter table isread out and temporarily stored in the buffer memory 29, and the updatedaccess counter table is written back to the management region of themagnetic disk 11. Alternatively, the update processing by the updateprocessing unit 46 may be performed such that the accumulation valuecorresponding to the identified region (the range of logical addresses)in the access counter table is selectively read out and temporarilystored in the buffer memory 29, and the updated accumulation value iswritten back to the management region of the magnetic disk 11.

The reallocation processing unit 47 reallocates the data recorded on themagnetic disk according to the access counter table (see FIG. 3). Thereallocation processing unit 47 performs data reallocation such thatdata in a region having a higher accumulation value in the accesscounter table is allocated in a region having a shorter access time(faster access).

In the magnetic disk device 1, as indicated above, the mechanical waittimes such as a seek time and a rotation wait time exist in the accesstime. The mechanical wait times are times for positioning the magnetichead 22 with respect to the magnetic disk 11 by the VCM 16 in FIG. 1.

For example, when the magnetic head 22 is moved from the retractedposition illustrated by the broken line onto the magnetic disk 11, theaccess time of an outer circumferential side track is more likely to beshorter than an inner circumferential side track in a plurality oftracks concentrically provided on the magnetic disk 11.

Further, for example, in the magnetic disk device 1, the access time ismore likely to be shorter in a case where data accessed at temporallyclose timings are allocated in the same or adjacent tracks because theseek time is more likely to be shorter than a case where the data areallocated in different or not adjacent tracks.

Further, for example, since the data amount that can be stored in anouter circumferential side track per one cycle is often larger than aninner circumferential side track in the magnetic disk 11, the dataaccessed at temporally close timings can be easily allocated in the sametrack. That is, from this aspect, seeking is less likely to occur andthe access time is more likely to be shorter in the outercircumferential side track than the inner circumferential side track.

Further, for example, in the magnetic disk device 1, copied data fromthe data recorded on the magnetic disk 11 may be stored in the buffermemory 29 as work data. In this case, since the copied data in thebuffer memory 29 does not have the mechanical wait time, the access timeto the copied data is more likely to be shorter than the access time tothe copy source data.

Note that, in the following description, assume that the access order ofdata is known, and the access time is experimentally obtained in advancein a form in association with the access order of data for each physicaladdress. Further, assume that, when association (allocation) between thephysical address and the logical address is changed, the access time isexperimentally obtained in advance in a form in association with theaccess order of data for each physical address for each of allocationpatterns. The magnetic disk device 1 may include such a database.

When data of a first logical address is recorded in a first physicaladdress and data of a second logical address is recorded in a secondphysical address, the reallocation processing unit 47 reallocates thedata of the second logical address to the first physical address andreallocates the data of the first logical address to the second physicaladdress. The first logical address is a logical address that belongs tothe region corresponding to a first accumulation value in the accesscounter table. The first physical address is experimentally confirmed inadvance to be accessible in the first access time. The second logicaladdress corresponds to a second accumulation value that is larger thanthe first accumulation value in the access counter table. The secondphysical address is experimentally confirmed in advance to be accessiblein the second access time that is longer than the first access time.That is, the reallocation processing unit 47 changes the associationbetween the logical address and the physical address such that data of aregion having a higher accumulation value in the access counter table isallocated in a region having a shorter access time (faster access).

At this time, since the first physical address is accessible in anaccess time shorter than the second physical address, the first physicaladdress can be positioned at an outer circumferential side of themagnetic disk 11 than the second physical address, for example. Further,for example, when it is known that a third physical address is accessedat a temporally close timing to the first physical address, the firstphysical address can be positioned on the same track as or on anadjacent track to a track to which the third physical address belongsinstead of the track to which the second physical address belongs.Further, for example, a copy of the data recorded in the first physicaladdress on the magnetic disk 11 can be positioned in the buffer memory29, and a copy of the data recorded in the second physical address canbe caused not to exist in the buffer memory 29.

The reallocation processing unit 47 includes a comparison unit 47 a, areallocation unit 47 b, a copy processing unit 47 d, and an addresstranslation unit 47 c.

The comparison unit 47 a accesses the access counter table (see FIG. 3),and gets to know the accumulation value of the counting with respect tothe regions RG0 to RG17. Further, the comparison unit 47 a accesses alogical-physical translation table (see FIG. 6), and get to know thephysical address allocated to the logical address that belongs to eachof the regions RG0 to RG17. The comparison unit 47 a then performs acomparison operation about whether the data having a higher accumulationvalue in the access counter table is allocated in a region having ashorter access time (faster access). The comparison unit 47 a supplies acomparison result to the reallocation unit 47 b and the copy processingunit 47 d.

The logical-physical translation table has a data structure asillustrated in FIG. 6, for example. In the logical-physical translationtable, logical addresses (LBAs: Logical Block Addresses) and physicaladdresses (PBAs: Physical Blocks Addresses) are associated with eachother with respect to a plurality of logical addresses (LBAs). Thephysical address with respect to each logical address can be identifiedby referring to the logical-physical translation table. Note that thelogical-physical translation table may be stored in the managementregion of the magnetic disk 11, or may be stored in the non-volatilememory 28 or in the buffer memory 29.

The reallocation unit 47 b receives a comparison result from thecomparison unit 47 a. The reallocation unit 47 b reallocates the logicaladdresses (LBAs) and the physical addresses (PBAs) according to thecomparison result.

For example, when the data of the first logical address is allocated tothe first physical address and the data of the second logical address isallocated to the second physical address, the reallocation unit 47 breallocates the second logical address to the first physical address,and reallocates the first logical address to the second physicaladdress, according to the comparison result.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 6, in the logical-physical translationtable, the logical address (LBA) and the physical address (PBA) areequal in an initial state. For example, a logical address “0” isallocated to a physical address “0”, and a logical address “110” isallocated to a physical address “110”.

At this time, for example, assume that the accumulation value of theaccess counter table with respect the logical addresses “110 to 119”that belong to the region RG11 is larger than the accumulation value ofthe counter table with respect to the logical addresses “0 to 9” thatbelong to the region RG0, and the access times of the physical addresses“110 to 119” respectively allocated to the logical addresses “110 to119” are longer than the access times of the physical addresses “0 to 9”respectively allocated to the logical addresses “0 to 9” (see FIG. 3).For example, when the physical addresses are provided to the magneticdisk 11 in order from an outer circumferential side, a smaller number ofa physical address indicates that the physical address is positioned onan outer circumferential side track. In this case, to cause the data ina region having a higher accumulation value in the access counter tableto be in a state of a shorter access time, the logical addresses “110 to119” that belong to the region RG11 are respectively reallocated to thephysical addresses “0 to 9”, and the logical addresses “0 to 9” thatbelong to the region RG0 are respectively reallocated to the physicaladdresses “110 to 119”.

Further, for example, assume that the accumulation value of the accesscounter table with respect to the logical addresses “120 to 129” thatbelong to the region RG12 is larger than the accumulation value of theaccess counter table with respect to the logical addresses “10 to 19”that belong to the region RG1, and the access times of the physicaladdresses “120 to 129” respectively allocated to the logical addresses“120 to 129” are longer than the access times of the physical addresses“10 to 19” respectively allocated to the logical addresses “10 to 19”(see FIG. 3). In this case, to cause the data of a plurality of regionshaving higher accumulation values in the access counter table to be in astate of being closely allocated on the magnetic disk 11, the logicaladdresses “120 to 129” that belong to the region RG12 are respectivelyreallocated to the physical addresses “10 to 19”, and the logicaladdresses “10 to 19” that belong to the region RG1 are respectivelyreallocated to the physical addresses “120 to 129”. Accordingly, theadjacent physical addresses “0 to 9” and “10 to 19” having shorteraccess times can be allocated to the two regions RG11 and RG12 havinghigher accumulation values of the count values in the access countertable in FIG. 3. That is, the two regions RG11 and RG12 presumed to beaccessed at temporally close timings can be allocated on the same trackor adjacent tracks having shorter access times.

The copy processing unit 47 d receives the comparison result from thecomparison unit 47 a. The copy processing unit 47 d performs copyprocessing of copying the data recorded on the magnetic disk 11 to thebuffer memory 29 according to the comparison result.

For example, when neither the data of the first logical address nor thedata of the second logical address is copied in the buffer memory 29,the copy processing unit 47 d selectively copies the data of the firstlogical address to the buffer memory 29 according to the comparisonresult. Along with that, the copy processing unit 47 d updates the copymanagement table about the memory address in which the data of the firstlogical address in the buffer memory 29 has been copied.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a memory address column corresponding toany of the logical addresses in the copy management table is vacant inthe initial state.

At this time, for example, assume that the accumulation value of theaccess counter table with respect to the logical addresses “110 to 119”that belong to the region RG11 is larger than the accumulation value ofthe access counter table with respect to the logical addresses “0 to 9”that belong to the region RG0, and the access times of the physicaladdresses “110 to 119” respectively allocated to the logical addresses“110 to 119” are longer than the access times of the physical addresses“0 to 9” respectively allocated to the logical addresses “0 to 9” (seeFIGS. 3 and 6). For example, when the physical addresses are provided tothe magnetic disk 11 in order from an outer circumferential side, asmaller number of a physical address indicates that the physical addressis positioned on an outer circumferential side track. In this case, tocause the data in the region having a higher accumulation value in theaccess counter table to be in a state of a short access time, the dataof the logical addresses “110 to 119” that belong to the region RG11 areread out from the corresponding physical addresses in the magnetic disk11 and copied to the memory addresses ADD0 to ADD9 in the buffer memory29. Along with that, the memory addresses ADD0 to ADD9 are added to thememory address columns corresponding to the logical addresses “110 to119” in the copy management table. Accordingly, the logical addresses“110 to 119” that belong to the region RG11 can be substantiallyreallocated to the memory addresses ADD0 to ADD9 in the buffer memory29, respectively.

Further, for example, assume that the accumulation value of the accesscounter table with respect to the logical addresses “120 to 129” thatbelong to the region RG12 is larger than the accumulation value of theaccess counter table with respect to the logical addresses “10 to 19”that belong to the region RG1, and the access times of the physicaladdresses “120 to 129” respectively allocated to the logical addresses“120 to 129” are longer than the access times of the physical addresses“10 to 19” respectively allocated to the logical addresses “10 to 19”(see FIGS. 3 and 6). In this case, to cause copies of the data of theplurality of regions having higher accumulation values of the accesscounter table to be closely allocated in the buffer memory 29, the dataof the logical addresses “120 to 129” that belong to the region RG12 areread out from the corresponding physical addresses in the magnetic disk11 and copied to the memory addresses ADD10 to ADD19 in the buffermemory 29. Along with that, the memory addresses ADD10 to ADD19 areadded to the memory address columns corresponding to the logicaladdresses “120 to 129” in the copy management table. The memoryaddresses ADD10 to ADD19 are consecutive addresses with respect to thememory addresses ADD0 to ADD9. Accordingly, the adjacent memoryaddresses ADD0 to ADD9, and ADD10 to ADD19 can be allocated to the tworegions RG11 and RG12 having higher accumulation values of the countvalues in the access counter table illustrated in FIG. 3. That is, thetwo regions RG11 and RG12 presumed to be accessed at temporally closetimings can be allocated to the adjacent memory regions in the buffermemory 29.

Note that, when the copied data in the buffer memory 29 is discarded,the added memory addresses in the copy management table may be deletedfrom the copy management table. Accordingly, a copy of which logicaladdress data exists in the buffer memory 29 can be known by referring tothe copy management table.

When the recording control unit 40 has received a read command or awrite command from the host 100 and performs processing, the addresstranslation unit 47 c refers to the copy management table (FIG. 7) andthe logical-physical translation table (see FIG. 6).

For example, the address translation unit 47 c refers to the managementtable to perform address translation between the logical address (LBA)and the memory address. At this time, about the data of the logicaladdress that has a corresponding memory address recorded in the copymanagement table (FIG. 7), the address translation unit 47 c maypreferentially perform the address translation by the copy managementtable, and preferentially access the copied data stored in the buffermemory 29.

Alternatively, the address translation unit 47 c refers to thelogical-physical translation table to perform address translationbetween the logical address (LBA) and the physical address (PBA).

For example, when data is transmitted/received between the magnetic diskdevice 1 and the host (a personal computer, a server, or the like) 100,as a method of specifying a data storage location of the magnetic diskdevice 1, it is typical to use the logical address (LBA). For example,when the host 100 requests reading out of data to the magnetic diskdevice 1, the host 100 issues a read command and waits for data transferfrom the magnetic disk device 1. The read command includes the logicaladdress (LBA) in which data of the reading out request and informationof the number of blocks to be read out starting from the logical address(LBA). When having received the read command from the host 100, themagnetic disk device 1 refers to the logical-physical translation table(see FIG. 6) to obtain the physical address (PBA) at a data storageposition corresponding to the logical address (LBA) specified in thecommand, reads out data from the magnetic disk 11 or the like, andtransfers the data to the host 100.

At this time, the address translation unit 47 c illustrated in FIG. 2identifies the logical address (LBA) included in the read command or awrite command. The address translation unit 47 c refers to thelogical-physical translation table (see FIG. 6), and identifies thephysical address (PBA) corresponding to the identified logical address(LBA). The address translation unit 47 c supplies the identifiedphysical address (PBA) to the recording control unit 40. Accordingly,the recording control unit 40 accesses the region designated by thephysical address (PBA) in the magnetic disk 11, and reads out the datafrom the region.

Next, a specific operation example of the recording control unit 40 willbe described using FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 8 illustrates accumulation values of the counting of the accesscounter 41 when the determination unit 45 has determined thecoefficient=1.5. FIG. 9 illustrates the accumulation values of thecounting of the access counter 41 when the determination unit 45 hasdetermined the coefficient=0.5. Note that the determination unit 45determines the weight by referring to the weight table illustrated inFIG. 4.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example in which the determination unit 45determines the coefficient=1.5 according to the fact that the devicestartup duration time is short (for example, the startup duration timeis “24 hours or less” in the coefficient table). When thecoefficient=1.5, the counting by an access when the time from the powerON is early is greatly influenced by a weight. For example, the weightsare respectively 150 when the power ON time is 0 to 10, 15 when thepower ON time is 10 to 20, and 1 when the power ON time is 20 or over.While the LBA ranges “RG1” and “RG2” have the number of actual accesses:4 and 5, the accumulation values of the counting of the access counterare 465 and 480. Therefore, the priority orders in the reallocation inthe LBA range are 2 and 1. That is, the data accessed at occurrence of aspecific situation (for example, the startup of the magnetic disk device1) can be easily preferentially handled.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which the determination unit 45determines the coefficient=0.5 according to the fact that the devicestartup duration time is long (for example, the startup duration time is“48 hours to one week” in the coefficient table). When thecoefficient=0.5, the counting by an access when the time from power ONis early is less influenced by a weight. For example, the weights arerespectively 50 when the power ON time is 0 to 10, 5 when the power ONtime is 10 to 20, and 1 when the power ON time is 20 or over. While theLBA ranges “RG1” and “RG2” have the number of actual accesses: 4 and 5,the accumulation values of the counting of the access counter are 155and 160. Therefore, the priority orders in the reallocation in the LBAranges are 4 and 3. That is, the priority of the data accessed at theoccurrence of the specific situation (for example, the startup of themagnetic disk device 1) can be relieved, and the data having a highaccess frequency can be easily preferentially handled.

Next, an operation of the magnetic disk device 1 will be described usingFIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of themagnetic disk device 1.

When the recording control unit 40 recognizes the power ON from the host100 (step S1), the determination unit 45 determines a weight to bemultiplied by the multiplier 41 b in the access counter 41 according tothe startup duration time of the magnetic disk device 1 and the elapsedtime from the startup of the magnetic disk device 1 (step S2). Therecording control unit 40 starts up the magnetic disk device 1 accordingto the power ON procedure (step S3), and starts infinite loop processing(step S4).

The recording control unit 40 determines whether an access to themagnetic disk 11 is requested from the host 100 (step S5). When theaccess is requested (Yes in step S5), the recording control unit 40moves the processing to step S6, and when the access is not requested(No in step S5), the recording control unit 40 moves the processing tostep S7.

In step S6, the access counter 41 counts the value according to theaccess frequency to the magnetic disk 11 in the count step unitdetermined by the determination unit 45. The update processing unit 46updates the access counter table using the count value of the accesscounter 41.

The recording control unit 40 determines whether a predetermined timehas been passed from the startup of the magnetic disk device 1 (stepS7). The predetermined time is a time indicating a boundary of the timeregions in the weight table, for example, and is 10 [s] or 20 [s] (seeFIG. 4). When the predetermined time has been passed (Yes in step S7),the recording control unit 40 moves the processing to step S8, and whenthe predetermined time has not been passed (No in step S7), therecording control unit 40 moves the processing to step S9.

In step S8, the determination unit 45 changes the weight to bemultiplied by the multiplier 41 b in the access counter 41 according tothe elapsed time from the startup of the magnetic disk device 1.

The recording control unit 40 determines whether the reallocation ofdata is necessary (step S9).

For example, when a first threshold time from the startup of themagnetic disk device 1 has been passed, the recording control unit 40determines the data reallocation is necessary, and when the firstthreshold time from the startup of the magnetic disk device 1 has notbeen passed, the recording control unit 40 determined the datareallocation is not necessary. The first threshold time is a timeexperimentally acquired in advance as a time from the startup of themagnetic disk device 1, in which data reallocation is necessary.

Alternatively, for example, when a second threshold time from theprevious reallocation has been passed, the recording control unit 40determines the data reallocation is necessary, and when the secondthreshold time from the previous reallocation has not been passed, therecording control unit 40 determines the data reallocation is notnecessary. The second threshold time is a time experimentally acquiredin advance as a time from the previous reallocation in which the datareallocation is necessary.

Alternatively, for example, when the data amount of a media cache regionin the magnetic disk 11 exceeds a threshold, the recording control unit40 determines the data reallocation is necessary, and when the dataamount of the media cache region in the magnetic disk 11 does not exceedthe threshold, the recording control unit 40 determines the datareallocation is not necessary. The media cache region is a region in themagnetic disk 11, for temporarily recording data, separately providedfrom the region in the magnetic disk 11, in which the data is recorded.

When the data reallocation is necessary (Yes in step S9), the recordingcontrol unit 40 moves the processing to step S10, and when the datareallocation is not necessary (No in step S9), the recording controlunit 40 moves the processing to step S11.

In step S10, the reallocation processing unit 47 reallocates the datarecorded in the magnetic disk 11 (or the magnetic disk 11 or the buffermemory 29) according to the access counter table (see FIG. 3).

Step S11 is the end of the loop, and thus, step S11 returns theprocessing to step S4 that is the start of the loop. Accordingly, theloop processing of steps S4 to S11 are repeated until the magnetic diskdevice 1 is powered OFF, and the processing is terminated when themagnetic disk device 1 is powered OFF.

Next, details of the determination of the weight of access counter 41(step S2) will be described using FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a flowchartillustrating the determination of the weight of the access count.

The determination unit 45 refers to the weight table (see FIG. 4), andprovisionally determines a weight W to be multiplied by the multiplier41 b to be a value N corresponding to the current elapsed time from thestartup of the magnetic disk device 1 (step S21).

The duration time determination unit 44 determines whether which sectionfrom among the plurality of sections (FIG. 5) the previous duration timebelongs to (step S22).

When the previous duration time is determined to belong to “24 hours orless”, the determination unit 45 refers to the coefficient table (seeFIG. 5), and determines a coefficient k to be used for weight adjustmentto be “1.5” (step S23). When the previous duration time is determined tobelong to “24 to 48 hours”, the determination unit 45 refers to thecoefficient table (see FIG. 5), and determines the coefficient k to beused for weight adjustment to be “1.0” (step S24). When the previousduration time is determined to belong to “48 hours to one week”, thedetermination unit 45 refers to the coefficient table (see FIG. 5), anddetermines the coefficient k to be used for weight adjustment to be“0.5” (step S25). When the previous duration time is determined tobelong to “one week or more”, the determination unit 45 determines thecoefficient k to be used for weight adjustment to be “−1” (step S26).

The determination unit 45 multiplies the determined coefficient k to theprovisionally-determined weight N to generate an adjusted weight W=N×k(step S27).

The determination unit 45 determines whether the value of the weightW=N×k adjusted by the multiplication is smaller than one (step S28).When the value of the weight W is smaller than one (Yes in step S28),the determination unit 45 moves the processing to step S29, and when thevalue of the weight W is one or more (No in step S28), the determinationunit 45 terminates the processing.

In step S29, the determination unit 45 fixedly determines one to be theadjusted weight W.

Next, details of the change of the weight of the access counter 41 (stepS8) will be described using FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustratingthe change of the weight of the access counter 41.

The determination unit 45 refers to the weight table (see FIG. 4), andprovisionally determines the weight W to be multiplied by the multiplier41 b to be a value N corresponding to the current elapsed time from thestartup of the magnetic disk device 1 (step S31).

The determination unit 45 multiplies the determined coefficient k to theprovisionally-determined weight N to generate the adjusted weight W=N×k(step S32).

The determination unit 45 determines whether the value of the weightW=N×k adjusted by the multiplication is smaller than one (step S33).When the value of the weight W is smaller than one (Yes in step S33),the determination unit 45 moves the processing to step S34, and when thevalue of the weight W is one or more (No in step S33), the determinationunit 45 terminates the processing.

In step S34, the determination unit 45 fixedly determines one to be theadjusted weight W.

As described above, in the embodiment, the determination unit 45determines the count step unit of the access counter 41 according to theelapsed time from the occurrence of the specific situation in themagnetic disk device 1. For example, when the elapsed time from theoccurrence of the specific situation is the first time, thedetermination unit 45 determines the count step unit of the accesscounter 41 to be CU1, and when the elapsed time from the occurrence ofthe specific situation is the second time longer than the first time,the determination unit 45 determines the count step unit of the accesscounter 41 to be CU2 smaller than CU1. That is, the determination unit45 determines the count step unit of the access counter 41 such that theregion in which data accessed immediately after the occurrence of thespecific situation is recorded is preferentially handled. The updateprocessing unit 46 updates the access counter table using the countvalue counted by the access counter 41 in the count step unit determinedby the determination unit 45. The reallocation processing unit 47reallocates the data recorded on the magnetic disk 11 according to theupdated access counter table. Accordingly, the region in which dataaccessed immediately after the occurrence of the specific situation isrecorded is preferentially handled at data reallocation. Therefore, theperformance of the magnetic disk device 1 in the specific situation canbe improved. For example, the access time at the occurrence of thespecific situation (for example, at the system startup) can be reduced.

Further, in the embodiment, in the magnetic disk device 1, when theelapsed time from the occurrence of the specific situation is the firsttime, the determination unit 45 determines the weight to be multipliedby the multiplier 41 b in the access counter 41 according to the firstweight. When the elapsed time from the occurrence of the specificsituation is the second time that is longer than the first time, thedetermination unit 45 determines the weight to be multiplied by themultiplier 41 b in the access counter 41 according to the second weightthat is smaller than the first weight. Accordingly, the determinationunit 45 can determine the count step unit of the access counter 41 to beCU1 when the elapsed time from the occurrence of the specific situationis the first time, and can determine the count step unit of the accesscounter 41 to be CU2 that is smaller than CU1 when the elapsed time fromthe occurrence of the specific situation is the second time that islonger than the first time. That is, the count step unit of the accesscounter 41 can be determined such that the data accessed immediatelyafter the occurrence of the specific situation is recorded ispreferentially handled.

Further, in the embodiment, in the magnetic disk device 1, thedetermination unit 45 determines the count step unit of the accesscounter 41 according to the duration time from the occurrence to thecompletion of the specific situation and the elapsed time from theoccurrence of the specific situation. For example, when the durationtime from the occurrence to the completion of the specific situation isthe first duration time, the determination unit 45 determines the countstep unit of the access counter 41 to be CU3, and when the duration timefrom the occurrence to the completion of the specific situation is thesecond duration time that is longer than the first duration time, thedetermination unit 45 determines the count step unit of the accesscounter 41 to be CU4 that is smaller than CU3. That is, thedetermination unit 45 determines the count step unit of the accesscounter 41 such that, when the duration time from the occurrence to thecompletion of the specific situation (for example, the startup durationtime of the device) is short, the recording region of the data accessedimmediately after the occurrence of the specific situation can be easilypreferentially handled, and when the duration time from the occurrenceto the completion of the specific situation (for example, the startupduration time of the device) is long, the recording region of the datahaving a high access frequency can be easily preferentially handled.Accordingly, the performance of the magnetic disk device 1 in thespecific situation can be improved in consideration of a use status (useenvironment) of the magnetic disk device 1.

Further, in the embodiment, in the magnetic disk device 1, thedetermination unit 45 provisionally determines the weight to bemultiplied by the multiplier 41 b according to the elapsed time from theoccurrence of the specific situation, adjusts theprovisionally-determined weight using the coefficient according to theduration time from the occurrence to the completion of the specificsituation, and determines the adjusted weight as the weight to bemultiplied by the multiplier 41 b. At this time, the determination unit45 determines the coefficient to be used for weight adjustment when theduration time from the occurrence to the completion of the specificsituation is the first duration time to be the first coefficient, anddetermines the coefficient to be used for weight adjustment when theduration time from the occurrence to the completion of the specificsituation is the second duration time that is longer than the firstduration time to be the second coefficient that is smaller than thefirst coefficient. Accordingly, the determination unit 45 can determinethe count step unit of the access counter 41 such that the recordingregion of the data accessed immediately after the occurrence of thespecific situation can be preferentially handled when the duration timefrom the occurrence to the completion of the specific situation (forexample, the startup duration time of the device) is short, and therecording region of the data having a high access frequency can bepreferentially handled when the duration time from the occurrence to thecompletion of the specific situation (for example, the startup durationtime of the device) is long.

Further, in the magnetic disk device 1 of the embodiment, when the dataof the first logical address is recorded in the first physical addressand the data of the second logical address is recorded in the secondphysical address, the reallocation processing unit 47 reallocates thedata of the second logical address to the first physical address, andreallocates the data of the first logical address to the second physicaladdress. The first logical address is the logical address that belongsto the region corresponding to the first accumulation value in theaccess counter table. The first physical address is accessible in thefirst access time. The second logical address is a logical address thatbelongs to the region corresponding to the second accumulation valuethat is larger than the first accumulation value in the access countertable. The second physical address is accessible in the second accesstime that is longer than the first access time. That is, thereallocation processing unit 47 reallocates the data such that the datain the region having a higher accumulation value in the access countertable can be allocated in a physical address having a shorter accesstime (faster access). Accordingly, the performance of the magnetic diskdevice 1 in the specific situation can be improved according to theaccess counter table including the accumulation value counted by theweight in consideration of the specific situation.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described hereinmay be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intendedto cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope andspirit of the inventions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A magnetic disk device comprising: A magneticdisk including a recording region; a storage unit configured to store avalue according to number of accesses to each of a plurality of regionsobtained by dividing of the recording region of the magnetic disk inassociation with each of the plurality of regions; and a control unitconfigured to count a value according to the number of accesses to eachof a plurality of regions in a count step unit that is a valuedetermined according to an elapsed time from occurrence of a specificsituation and is a value counted per unit access, and to update thevalue stored in the storage unit.
 2. The magnetic disk device accordingto claim 1, wherein the control unit further reallocates data recordedon the magnetic disk according to the updated value (number of accessesto each of a plurality of regions).
 3. The magnetic disk deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the storage unit stores an access countertable in which a logical address and an accumulation value of the valuescounted in the control unit are associated with each other with respectto a plurality of the logical addresses allocated to the magnetic disk,and the control unit adds a count value of the control unit to theaccumulation value corresponding to the logical address to be updated inthe access counter table stored in the storage unit and to overwrite andupdate the accumulation value corresponding to the logical address to beupdated with an addition result.
 4. The magnetic disk device accordingto claim 3, wherein, when data of a first logical address correspondingto a first accumulation value is recorded in a first physical addressaccessible in a first access time, and data of a second logical addresscorresponding to a second accumulation value that is larger than thefirst accumulation value is recorded in a second physical addressaccessible in a second access time that is longer than the first accesstime, the control unit reallocates the data of the second logicaladdress to the first physical address, and reallocates the data of thefirst logical address to the second physical address.
 5. The magneticdisk device according to claim 1, wherein the specific situationincludes startup of the magnetic disk device, and the control unitdetermines the count step unit to be a first value when the elapsed timefrom occurrence of the specific situation is a first time, anddetermines the count step unit to be a second value that is smaller thanthe first value when the elapsed time from occurrence of the specificsituation is a second time that is longer than the first time.
 6. Themagnetic disk device according to claim 1, wherein the control unitdetermines the count step unit according to a duration time fromoccurrence to completion of the specific situation and the elapsed timefrom occurrence of the specific situation.
 7. The magnetic disk deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the specific situation includes startup ofthe magnetic disk device, and the control unit determines the count stepunit to be a third value when duration time from occurrence tocompletion of the specific situation is a first duration time, anddetermines the count step unit to be a fourth value that is smaller thanthe third value when the duration time from occurrence to completion ofthe specific situation is a second duration time that is longer than thefirst duration time.
 8. The magnetic disk device according to claim 2,wherein the specific situation includes startup of the magnetic diskdevice, and the control unit determines the count step unit to be afirst value when the elapsed time from occurrence of the specificsituation is a first time, and determines the count step unit to be asecond value that is smaller than the first value when the elapsed timefrom occurrence of the specific situation is a second time that islonger than the first time.
 9. The magnetic disk device according toclaim 2, wherein the control unit determines the count step unitaccording to a duration time from occurrence to completion of thespecific situation and the elapsed time from occurrence of the specificsituation.
 10. The magnetic disk device according to claim 2, whereinthe specific situation includes startup of the magnetic disk device, andthe control unit determines the count step unit to be a third value whenduration time from occurrence to completion of the specific situation isa first duration time, and determines the count step unit to be a fourthvalue that is smaller than the third value when the duration time fromoccurrence to completion of the specific situation is a second durationtime that is longer than the first duration time.
 11. A method ofcontrolling a magnetic disk device including a magnetic disk including arecording region, the method comprising: storing a value according tonumber of accesses to each of a plurality of regions obtained bydividing of the recording region of the magnetic disk in associationwith each of the plurality of regions; and counting the value accordingto the number of accesses to each of a plurality of regions in a countstep unit that is a value determined according to an elapsed time fromoccurrence of a specific situation and is a value counted per unitaccess, and updating the stored value.
 12. The controlling methodaccording to claim 11, wherein the updating further includesreallocating of data recorded on the magnetic disk according to theupdated value.
 13. The controlling method according to claim 12, whereinthe storing includes storing an access counter table in which a logicaladdress and an accumulation value of the counted values are associatedwith each other with respect to a plurality of the logical addressesallocated to the magnetic disk, and the updating includes adding acounted value to the accumulation value corresponding to the logicaladdress to be updated in the stored access counter table, andoverwriting and updating the accumulation value corresponding to thelogical address to be updated with an addition result.
 14. Thecontrolling method according to claim 13, wherein the updating includeswhen data of a first logical address corresponding to a firstaccumulation value is recorded in a first physical address accessible ina first access time, and data of a second logical address correspondingto a second accumulation value that is larger than the firstaccumulation value is recorded in a second physical address accessiblein a second access time that is longer than the first access time,reallocating the data of the second logical address to the firstphysical address, and reallocating the data of the first logical addressto the second physical address.
 15. The controlling method according toclaim 11, wherein the specific situation includes startup of themagnetic disk device, and the updating includes determining the countstep unit to be a first value when the elapsed time from occurrence ofthe specific situation is a first time, and determining the count stepunit to be a second value that is smaller than the first value when theelapsed time from occurrence of the specific situation is a second timethat is longer than the first time.
 16. The controlling method accordingto claim 11, wherein the updating includes determining the count stepunit according to a duration time from occurrence to completion of thespecific situation and the elapsed time from occurrence of the specificsituation.
 17. The controlling method according to claim 11, wherein thespecific situation includes startup of the magnetic disk device, and theupdating includes determining the count step unit to be a third valuewhen duration time from occurrence to completion of the specificsituation is a first duration time, and determining the count step unitto be a fourth value that is smaller than the third value when theduration time from occurrence to completion of the specific situation isa second duration time that is longer than the first duration time. 18.The controlling method according to claim 12, wherein the specificsituation includes startup of the magnetic disk device, and the updatingincludes determining the count step unit to be a first value when theelapsed time from occurrence of the specific situation is a first time,and determining the count step unit to be a second value that is smallerthan the first value when the elapsed time from occurrence of thespecific situation is a second time that is longer than the first time.19. The controlling method according to claim 12, wherein the updatingincludes determining the count step unit according to a duration timefrom occurrence to completion of the specific situation and the elapsedtime from occurrence of the specific situation.
 20. The controllingmethod according to claim 12, wherein the specific situation includesstartup of the magnetic disk device, and the updating includesdetermining the count step unit to be a third value when duration timefrom occurrence to completion of the specific situation is a firstduration time, and determining the count step unit to be a fourth valuethat is smaller than the third value when the duration time fromoccurrence to completion of the specific situation is a second durationtime that is longer than the first duration time.